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LINO 
CORBETT 

BOOTH 
DAVIS 


LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 

HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


i3f  £ 


Abraham  Lincoln 

and 

Boston  Corbett 


WITH    PERSONAL    RECOLLECTIONS 
OF    EACH 


John  Wilkes  Booth 

and 

Jefferson  Davis 

A   TRUE    STORY 
OF   THEIR    CAPTURE 


BYRON    BERKELEY   JOHNSON 

WALTHAM,    MASS. 

1914 


Copyright,  1914 

By  Byron  Berkeley  Johnson 

all  rights  reserved 

Published  June,  1914 


f 


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liYKON     liKHKEI.KV    .KlHNSON 


PREFACE 

A  recent  imperfect  brochure  of  mine  relating  to  Boston 
Corbett,  who  shot  John  Wilkes  Booth,  the  assassinator  of 
President  Lincoln,  has  brought  requests  for  more  of  the  his- 
tory of  this  unique  character.  Its  study  forces  us  to  link  it 
with  the  death  of  Lincoln,  the  end  of  Booth  and  the  capture 
of  Jefferson  Davis,  the  inspiring  angel  of  Booth  on  his  last 
mission. 

The  recording  of  real  personal  recollections  assists  in 
making  genuine  history,  and  furnishes  a  fiavor  delightful  to 
the  public  taste.  I  will  present  some  personal  items  about 
Lincoln  and  Corbett,  and  testimony  from  official  records 
— that  we  may  see  the  characteristics  of  the  two  men,  and 
then  by  an  analysis  of  other  facts  get  a  correct  view  of  the 
tragic  end  of  Booth,  and  of  his  incentives  to  his  mad  career. 

We  will  examine  the  exciting  and  singular  Kansas  life  of 
Corbett.  Bringing  the  truth  out  of  the  many  versions  relating 
to  the  capture  of  Jefferson  Davis,  we  shall  find  that  the 
ridiculous  stories,  published  by  the  northern  press,  of  his 
lieeing  in  his  wife's  dress  and  crinoline,  emanated  in  the  fer- 
tile brain  of  the  General  commanding  the  "raid  into  Alabama 
and  Georgia,"  and  had  no  foundation  in  fact.  We  can 
afford  to  bear  honest  testimony  even  at  this  late  date. 

B.   B.  Johnson 
Waltham,  Mass.,  1914    . 


THE    AISOVE    IS    1-lJOM    THE   LAST   NEGATIVE  OK   LINCOLN, 
TAKEN   MAKCH    (J,   180"). 

By  Henry  F.  Warren  (if  Waltham,  Mass.,  in  the  author's  presence,  and 
believed  to  he  the  last  photograj)h  of  President  Lincoln. 


Mr.  Warren  was  desirous  of  making  a  photograph  of  the 
President  to  add  to  the  collection  he  had  taken  at  City  Point 
and  elsewhere.  A  plan  was  made  to  secure  "Tad"  Lincoln's 
interest. 

He  usually  mornings  went  to  ride  on  a  pony  he  greatly 
loved. 

Having  interested  him  in  the  art.  Warren  made  several 
negatives  showing  "Tad"  on  and  off  the  pony.  When 
finished  and  taken  to  him  he  was  delighted  with  them. 

I  told  him  to  go  in  and  show  them  to  his  father,  and  if  he 
would  get  his  father  to  come  out  on  the  White  House 
platform  he  should  have  a  picture  he  had  seen  taken. 

He  ran  in  and  soon  the  President  carrying  a  simple  chair, 
and  led  by  the  boy,  appeared,  dressed  in  his  regular  business 
suit,  and  sat  down.     The  sitting  was  a  success. 


Chapter  I 

A     FEW    PERSONAL    RECOLLECTIONS    ILLUSTRATIVE    OF 

LINCOLN'S    METHODS.    HIS   KEEN    PERCEPTIONS 

AND  INNER    LIFE. 

October  7th,  1858, 1  was  sent  by  a  committee 
of  young  Republicans  of  Des  Moines  Count}'-, 
Iowa,  to  Galesburg,  Illinois,  to  secure  Mr. 
Lincoln  for  a  public  address  at  Burlington, 
Iowa. 

Hon.  James  Harlan,  U.  S.  Senator  from 
Iowa,  was  to  be  a  guest  at  the  Lincoln  and 
Douglas  debate.  He  later  became  the  father- 
in-law  of  Robert  T.  Lincoln. 

Armed  with  a  letter  from  Ex-Governor 
Grimes,  I  received  an  invitation  to  a  seat  on  the 
platform.  At  the  close  of  the  debate  Senator 
Harlan  introduced  me  to  the  speakers.  A  few 
words  by  Senator  Harlan,  supplementing  the 
Governor's  letter,  received  a  prompt,  ''I  will 
come." 

He  came,  and  I  had  the  pleasure  of  calling 
an  immense  audience  to  order  and  of  intro- 
ducing Governor  Grimes  to  preside.  The 
speech,  along  the  line  of  the  famous    debates, 

13 


lasting  nearly  two  hours,  was  delivered  in  an 
easy,  calm  manner,  full  of  pungent  truth, 
sparkling  humor  and  grand  appeals  for  an  up- 
lift of  conscience. 

In  1860,  I  had  the  privilege  of  being  in  the 
wigwam  convention  which  nominated  him  for 
President — and  of  acting  as  an  alternate  at  the 
second  ballot. 

People  cannot  appreciate  how  the  great  men 
of  the  country  outdid  themselves  in  the  en- 
thusiasm caused  by  two  men  carrying  through 
the  wigwam  one  of  the  rails  split  by  Mr.  Lin- 
coln to  fence  out  the  wolves  from  his  father's 
cabin. 

Soon  after  his  inauguration,  I  was  appointed 
to  an  important  position  in  the  U.  S.  Mail  Ser- 
vice, west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  I  raised  a 
Company  directly  after  the  Fort  Sumpter  epi- 
sode, but  on  a  physical  examination  was  not 
allowed  to  go  into  service.  When  the  Civil 
War  was  well  under  way,  being  transferred  to 
the  War  Department  at  Washington,  I  was 
enabled  to  renew  the  acquaintance  begun  at 
Galesburg,  and  which  continued  until  the 
assassination. 

Illustrations  of  the  President's  characteristics 
are  numerous — many  given  are  genuine  and 
some  are  fakes. 

A  few  came  under  my  personal  observation, 
which  at  the  risk  of  repetition  I  give. 

14 


In  his  office, one  morning  after  a  great  battle, 
he  was  visibly  depressed,  and  seemed  unable 
to  settle  down  to  work. 

He  took  from  his  pocket  a  Testament,  his 
constant  companion,  read  a  few  verses,  wiped 
away  a  tear — went  to  his  tasks  refreshed. 

Detailed  by  Assistant  Secretary  of  War 
P.  H.  Watson,  to  go  with  the  President  to 
Armory  Square  Hospital,  to  give  him  an  in- 
sight into  the  service  rendered  to  the  sick  and 
wounded  by  the  various  State  agents,  which  I 
could  do  as  a  volunteer  visitor  for  the  Massa- 
chusetts agent,  we  were  passing  through 
the  wards  where  ahead  of  us  was  a  woman 
with  a  basket  of  miscellaneous  tracts,  which 
she  distributed  without  regard  to  subject  or 
intended  readers. 

As  we  approached  a  group  of  soldiers  whom 
she  had  served  with  tracts,  they  were  laughing 
quite  vigorously,  and  one  was  calling  attention 
to  his  tract.  The  President  assumed  that  he 
was  making  fun  of  the  woman  and  said  "My 
boy,  I  wouldn't  laugh  at  her,  she  thinks  she  is 
doing  good  work  and  so  do  I."  Then  he  told 
of  a  tract  he  received  when  a  lad,  how  it  had 
influenced  him  for  permanent  good.  The 
soldier,  holding  up  his  tract,  replied,  "You 
wouldn't  laugh?  Look  at  the  thing. ' '  Across  the 
face  in  great  black  letters  he  read,  "The  Sin 
of  Dancing,"  and  added,   "and    both    of    my 

15 


legs  off  at  the  knees."  The  President  laughed 
heartily,  and  turning  said  to  me,  "That's  the 
best  evidence  I  ever  saw  of  misapplied  philan- 
thropy." Contributors  to  the  needs  of  the 
soldiers  had  but  little  idea  of  the  extent  of  the 
misapplication  of  their  charities. 

It  is  said  that  "a  little  child  shall  lead 
them."  "Tad"  did  lead  the  President  for  the 
picture,  and  could  have  his  father's  attention 
whenever  it  was  possible.  The  President 
loved  the  soldiers,  and  seemed  to  feel  that  he 
had  a  personal  responsibility  for  their  welfare. 
In  September,  1864,  a  telegram  from  Burling- 
ton, Iowa,  asked  me  to  obtain  the  President's 
autograph  to  be  sold  there  at  a  soldiers'  fair, 
to  be  opened  that  week.  I  secured  an  album 
and  went  to  his  office,  where  he  seemed  too 
absorbed  to  permit  interruption.  Nicolayand 
Hay  were  there.  I  told  Nicolay  my  errand  and 
proposed  to  leave  the  book  and  return  later. 
The  President  had  caught  the  words  "soldiers' 
fair,"  asked  what  was  wanted,  took  the  album, 
wrote  on  its  first  page  "A.  Lincoln,"  and 
handed  it  to  his  secretaries  for  their  signatures 
on  the  same  page.  Cabinet  members  Seward, 
Stanton,  Welles,  Bates  and  Blair  added  their 
names.  Secretaries  Chase  and  Smith  were 
absent.  Many  prominent  autographs  were 
added  and  the  book  sent  by  express  the  next 
day  to   a   friend   at   Burlington  with   my  bid. 

16 


Mine  was  the  highest  and  I  have  the  album 
now.  Later  the  President  asked  me  who  got 
it;  to  my  reply,  said  "you  deserved  it." 

As  President  of  the  Sunday  School  Union, 
I  stood  by  his  side,  when  from  a  White  House 
balcony  he  reviewed  our  annual  parade,  which 
passed  through  the  grounds.  As  it  entered  at 
the  east  gate— some  boys  were  leading— he  said 
"I  never  see  boys  like  those  but  what  I  wonder 
what  is  in  their  heads;  you  never  can  tell. 
They  remind  me  of  a  boy  named  Daniel  who 
attended  a  district  school  in  New  England, 
and  was  in  the  habit  after  recess,  of  coming 
into  the  school  with  dirty  hands.  The  master 
had  remonstrated  and  punished  him  without 
much  improvement.  One  day  he  saw  Daniel's 
hands  were  quite  dirty  and  he  called  him  to 
his  desk."  (Mr.  Lincoln,  as  he  told  the  story, 
acted  it.)  "The  boy  holding  his  dirty  left 
hand  close  to  his  side,  as  he  moved  on,  spat  on 
his  right  hand  and  wiped  it  on  his  pants.  At 
the  desk,  the  master,  ferrule  in  hand,  lectured 
him  and  to  shame  him  said  '  if  you  will  find 
me  another  as  dirty  a  hand  as  this  one  in  the 
room  I  will  let  you  off  this  time.'  Immediately 
he  was  confronted  with  that  left  hand  ex- 
tended. You  can't  tell  what's  in  a  boy's 
head."  That  boy  was  Daniel  Webster.  Was 
there  ever  a  better  illustration  of  "you  can't  tell 
what  is  in  a  boy's  head ' '  than  Abraham  Lincoln? 

17 


His  modesty  was  shown  in  1858  when 
requested  to  furnish  his  1849  autobiography 
for  the  new  work  a  "Congressional  Direc- 
tory, "  he  wrote,  "I  was  born  in  Harding 
County,  Kentucky,  February,  12th,  1809. 
Education,  defective;  profession,  lawyer.  Post 
master  at  a  small  place.  Captain  in  the  Black 
Hawk  War.  Four  times  member  of  the  Illi- 
nois legislature.  Was  a  member  of  the  Lower 
House  of  Congress." 

I  heard  him  say  that  in  the  Black  Hawk 
War  he  was  "sent  down  South,  did  not  see  an 
Indian,  but  had  several  bloody  battles  with 
mosquitos."  The  blacks  of  the  South  had 
learned  that  their  former  masters  feared  Lin- 
coln, whom  they  had  never  seen.  Col.  Mc- 
Kayne,  Superintendent  of  the  Contraband 
Camp  at  Beaufort,  told  this  story  to  the  Presi- 
dent and  others  of  us  at  the  White  House. 
"Last  Sunday  the  colored  preacher  and  I 
came  into  the  camp  and  found  the  negroes 
greatly  excited  by  a  discussion  of  'what  am 
Massum  Linkum  like?'  The  old  preacher  said, 
'Yous  knows  nothing  'bout  Massum  Linkum. 
I  tell  you  what  Massum  Linkum  am  like. 
He  is  jes  like  Jesu  Christ,  he  go  up  and  down 
de  earth.'  That  seemed  to  satisfy  them." 
Brushing  tears  away  the  President  said,  "Col. 
it  is  a  great  responsibility  to  be  the  agent  for 
freeing  a  race."     Do  you  wonder  that  those 

18 


who  knew  Lincoln  personally  loved  him,  and 
that  time  has  drawn  universal  affection? 

It  is  interesting  to  note  some  of  the  ideas 
formed  by  "Young  America"  of  his  career. 
It  illustrates  the  imperfectness  of  the  study, 
and  possibly  of  the  teaching  of  the  Civil  War 
history.  Some  illustrations  will  show  the  im- 
portance of  a  correct  early  education.  At  a 
school  celebration,  in  a  Boston  district,  of  the 
one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  compositions  were  written 
by  scholars  and  read  at  the  celebration  service. 
One  read  "Aberham  Lincon  was  horned  in  a 
bright  summer  day  the  12th  Feb.  1899.  He 
was  horned  in  a  log  cabin  he  had  helped  his 
father  to  build." 

We  cannot  '*tell  what  is  in  a  boy's  head." 
Another  and  older  scholar  in  the  district 
had  a  wide  sweeping  vision  of  historical  events 
and  of  Lincoln's  nobleness  of  character,  and 
recorded  the  same  in  a  prize  essay  as  follows  : 
"Abraham  Lincoln  was  not  the  Father  of  His 
Country,  like  G.  Washington  was,  because  the 
country  was  already  born  when  A.  Lincoln 
arrived  in  it,  through  a  log  cabin  in  Kentucky 
or  Virginia,  I  forget  which.  His  folks  was  so 
poor  that  he  did  not  have  no  overcoat  nor 
under  things  until  he  was  twenty-five  years 
old,  but  he  was  clothed  in  Noble  Manhood. 
He  wrote    the    Emancipation   Procklermation 

19 


which  gave  their  Freedom  to  50,000,000  slaves 
w^hich  made  them  our  equal  except  in  color, 
which  neither  they  nor  A.  Lincoln  could  help. 
He  was  a  tall,  bony,  powerful  man,  both  physi- 
cally and  mentally  and  could  swing  a  axe  with 
power  hence  he  was  given  the  nom  de  ploom 
of  the  rail-splitter.     He  was  the  friend  of  all 
from  the  lowest  down  poor  man  of  all  colors 
to  the  highest  up  rich  man  with  his  palace  and 
automobile.     If  a  man  was  honest  A.  Lincoln 
asked    no    questions,    hence    he    was    called 
Honest  Abe.     He  knew  that  a  true  heart  could 
beat  beneath  a  black  as  well  as  a  white  skin,  if 
both  was  clean.     He  beat  in  the  great  Civil 
War,  which  made  him  the  People's  Idle  and  at 
last  landed  him  in  the  White   House   as  our 
Noble  President,  A.  Lincoln." 

Lincoln  "believed  in  God  as  the  Supreme 
Ruler  of  the  world  —  the  guider  of  men — the 
controller  of  the  great  events  of  national  life, 
and  the  destinies  of  mankind." 

He  was  quite  sure  that  he  was  a  chosen  in- 
strument to  lead  the  forces  of  freedom. 

He  had  endured  the  privations  of  the  poor 
whites  of  the  border  states.  A  conception  of 
the  fate  of  the  slaves  was  burned  into  his  brain 
and  on  his  heart  when  he  saw  the  slave  girl 
sold  at  auction  in  New  Orleans.  At  the  time  he 
made  the  prophetic  statement,  "Some  day  I 
will  hit  that  institution  hard." 

20 


He  believed  that  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence should  be  the  standard  of  all  politi- 
cal action. 

When  the  Republican  party  of  Illinois  was 
founded  he  said,  "Take  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  and  Hostility  to  the  Extension 
of  Slavery  for  your  platform,  build  on  it,  and 
the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  us." 

About  tv^o  years  later  he  v^as  debating  with 
Douglas,  in  the  seven  memorable  discussions — 
the  latter's  inconsistency  in  trying  to  satisfy 
both  the  non-extension  views  of  the  North  and 
the  extension  rights  claimed  by  the  South. 
The  writer  cannot  forget  Lincoln's  arraign- 
ment of  Douglas'  double  role,  the  keen  irony 
and  unanswerable  logic,  at  the  Galesburg  de- 
bate, October  7,  1858,  to  which  he  listened. 
Lincoln  compelled  Douglas  to  admit  that  the 
only  correct  standard  was,  that  "right  makes 
might." 

At  the  Cooper  Institute  in  1860,  Mr.  Lincoln 
appealed  to  the  world  with  these  words, 
"Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes  might,  and 
in  that  faith,  let  us  to  the  end,  dare  to  do  our 
duty  as  we  understand  it."  On  the  same  plat- 
form later,  when  Lincoln's  record  had  been 
written  on  the  hearts  and  minds  of  all  men, 
Carl  Schurz  said  —"No  American  President 
ever  wielded  such  power  as  that  which  was 
thrust  into  Lincoln's  hands.     But  no  man  was 

21 


ever  entrusted  with  it  to  whom  its  seductions 
were  less  dangerous  than  they  proved  to  be  to 
Abraham  Lincoln." 

Schuyler  Colfax  in  his  memorable  memorial 
address  at  Chicago,  brought  to  view  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's nature  and  his  reasons  for  its  frequent 
application  during  the  Civil  War.  "He  bore 
the  nation's  perils,  trials  and  sorrows  ever  on 
his  mind.  You  knew  him  in  a  large  degree 
by  the  illustrative  stories  of  which  his  memory 
and  tongue  were  so  prolific,  using  them  to 
point  a  moral,  or  to  soften  discontent  at  his 
decision.  But  this  was  the  mere  outflow  which 
relieved  him  for  the  moment  from  the  heavy 
weight  of  public  duties  and  responsibilities 
under  which  he  wearied." 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  peculiarly  a  "child  of 
the  people,"  self-educated,  honest,  modest, 
pure  and  tender  hearted.  At  first,  homely  to 
the  eye,  he  appealed  by  a  face  lightened  by 
the  fire  of  his  spirit,  his  humor  and  human 
sympathy,    directly  to  one's  heart. 

Liberator — as  the  agent  of  God,  of  a  race — 
patiently  he  waited  and  bore  the  reproach  of 
the  impatient,  until  he  saw  God's  time  at  hand. 
(For  his  description  of  his  vision  read  his  second 
inaugural  address.)  Then,  "with  malice  to- 
ward none,  with  charity  for  all,"  he  uttered 
the  world-reaching  word,  "Free." 

22 


Such  was  the  man  shot  by  the  profligate 
Booth. 

Well  may  we  all  look  into  his  character  and 
motives,  and  accept  General  Grant's  statement 
of  Lincoln's  life  and  service,  "They  will  ever 
grow  brighter  as  time  passes  and  his  great 
work  is  better  understood." 

We  can  see  our  duty  and  pleasure  today, 
expressed  in  a  Californian's  1909  verse  : 

Land  of  our  loyal  love  and  hope, 
O  land  he  died  to  save, 
Bow  down,  renew  today  thy  vows 
Beside  his  martyr  grave." 


23 


JOHN    M'lLKKS    liOOTH  —  WHO    SHOT     I'l!  KSI  l>  KNT    LINCOLN,    Al'RIL    14,    18(55 


Chapter  II. 

THE   ASSASSINATION  OF  LINCOLN  AND 
CAPTURE  OF   BOOTH. 

The  ston'  of  the  assassination  in  most  of  its 
details  is  familiar  to  all,  and  is  undisputed  up 
to  the  time  Booth  was  discovered  in  the  Gar- 
rett barn.  What  happened  there  has  been  im- 
perfectly told  by  writers  having  no  personal 
knowledge,  and  who  have  not  known  or  ac- 
cepted record  evidence  at  its  worth. 

Some  features  have  quite  recently  been  at- 
tributed to  Lieut.  Doherty  which  were  due  to 
Col.  Conger.  Boston  Corbett's  part  has  never 
been  fairly  and  fully  told  in  print,  so  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  learn. 

At  the  time  I  resided  on  "H'' street — between 
Ninth  and  Tenth  streets,  Washington.  Ford's 
Theatre  fronted  on  Tenth  street.  From  my 
front  door,  looking  directly  south,  we  could 
see  most  of  the  theatre  building.  To  the  east, 
on  the  opposite  side  of  "FI"  street  we  could 
see  the  Surratt  house,  where  the  plot  was 
planned.  The  Peterson  house  into  which  the 
President  was  carried  —  directly  opposite  the 


St 


theatre,  was  one  where  I  had  visited.  The 
room  where  he  died,  at  the  rear  of  the  front 
lower  hall,  was  occupied  by  William  T.  Clark, 
Co.  D.  13th  Mass.  Vols.  Mr.  Clark  was  a 
fine  penman  and  after  the  battle  at  Antietam 
was  detailed  for  duty  in  the  office  of  the  Ad- 
jutant General.  In  this  room,  I  had  a  glance 
of  the  dying  President  about  half  an  hour 
before  he  expired. 

An  unreported  incident  enlivened  our  situa- 
tion, which  illustrated  the  disloyalty  of  some  of 
the  beneficiaries  of  the  government  patronage, 
and  the  shrewdness  of  a  little  "Topsy"  girl, 
born  a  slave. 

Soon  after  Booth  shot  the  President,  several 
squares  including  Ford's  Theatre,  the  Peter- 
son house,  Surratt's  and  our  block  were  sur- 
rounded by  military,  who  controlled  egress 
and  ingress  on  the  15th.  At  noon,  upon 
reaching  home  from  the  War  Department,  my 
wife  informed  me  that  "Topsy"  had  whis- 
pered over  the  rear  division  fence,  "rebel  flag 
in  de  parlor  under  de  carpet  in  front"  and 
then  ran  in.  The  family  were  dependent 
upon  two  sons,  clerks  in  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment, drawing  salaries  of  twelve  and  fourteen 
hundred  dollars. 

They  were  anxiously  awaiting  the  arrival  of 
Jefferson  Davis  and  expecting  to  run  out  the 
flag  to  welcome  him.     An   arrangement   was 

28 


soon  made  with  the  patrol  officer,  a  Massa- 
chusetts Captain,  and  two  soldiers  passed  up 
through  my  house  to  the  front  balustrade, 
where  they  pushed  in  the  window  door,  and 
found  and  carried  away  the  flag.  Who  told 
of  it  was  a  mystery  to  them,  as  well  as  was 
the  ultimate  disposal  of  the  flag  to  us. 

A  TRUE  STORY 
OF  BOOTH'S  CAPTURE 

In  forming  our  opinion  of  the  particulars  of 
Booth's  capture  and  tragic  death  we  need  to 
remember  some  never  disputed  facts;  namely,— 

Booth  broke  his  leg  when  he  leaped  to  the 
theatre  platform. 

In  the  alley  where  his  horse  was  mounted, 
a  colored  woman  recognized  and  spoke  to  him 
and  the  man  assisting  him  to  mount. 

She  gave  the  first  notice  of  his  manner  of 
escape. 

Booth  was  treated  for  his  injurv  at  Dr. 
Mudd's. 

The  boot  removed  from  the  broken  leg  was 
there  found  bearing  the  initials  "J.  W.  B." 

The  mate  boot  was  on  Booth  when  found. 

Booth's  route  of  escape  was  told  by  a  negro 
at  Pon  Royal. 

At  BowHng  Green  a  rebel  Captain  told 
under  coercion  that  Booth  was  at  the  Garrett 

29 


farm.     Col.  Conger,  in  charge  of  the  pursuit, 
knew  Booth. 

Booth  gave  his  final  message  for  his  mother 
to  Col.  Conger. 

Booth  asserted  that  Harold  had  committed 
no  crime. 

Harold  said  he  met  Booth,  a  stranger,  out- 
side of  Washington. 

The  conspirators'  trial  proved  Harold  to 
have  been  a  party  assisting  Booth  in  the  pre- 
liminaries at  Washington. 

Dr.  May  v^ho  had  operated  upon  Booth,  be- 
fore he  saw  the  body,  described  certain  scars 
caused  by  his  operation  —  which  were  found. 


30 


EDWIN    M.    SPANTilN,  SKrkKlARV    OF   WAH    1865. 


THE  CAPTURE 

At  the  date  of  the  assassination,  Gen.  L.  C. 
Baker,  Chief  of  the  National  Detective  Police, 
was  in  New  York. 

Secretary  Stanton  recalled  him  and  gave 
him  entire  charge  of  the  pursuit  of  Booth. 

At  Baker's  request.  Gen.  Sweitzer,  com- 
manding the  Lincoln  Barracks  at  Washington, 
was  directed  to  "detail  a  reliable  and  discreet 
officer,  with  twenty-five  men,  well  mounted, 
with  three  days  rations  to  report  to  Gen. 
Baker." 

Lieut.  Edward  P.  Doherty,  Co.  L.  16th 
N.  Y.  Cavalry  was  selected,  he  to  choose  the 
men  from  his  Company.  When  he  announced 
the  service  and  that  he  would  take  the  first 
twenty-five  volunteering,  Sergeant  Corbett 
was  the  first  to  respond. 

Lieut.  Col.  Everett  J.  Conger,  who  had 
been  in  active  service  was  selected  to  have 
absolute  control  of  the  raid. 

Lieut.  Baker,  cousin  of  the  General,  was  as- 
signed to  act  with  Conger. 

General  Baker  ordered  them  to  "capture 
but  not  to  shoot  Booth." 

When,  acting  upon  the  information  furnish- 
ed by  the  negro  and  squeezed  from  the  rebel 
Captain,  they  reached  the  Garrett  farm,  Lieut. 
Doherty  ordered  Corbett  to  "deploy  the  men 

33 


around  the  house  and  allow  no  one  to  escape." 
This  order  obeyed,  the  three  officers  entered 
the  house,  where  they  found  Garrett  and  his 
son.  Garrett  refused  all  information,  and 
when  the  son  feared  the  acts  of  the  officers, 
he  yielded  and  said  Booth  was  in  the  barn. 
Lieut.  Dohertv  ordered  Corbett  to  leave  four 
men  at  the  house  and  deploy  the  remainder 
"around  the  barn  and  allow  no  one  to  escape." 
The  barn  was  a  tobacco  dry  house,  with  open 
spaces  between  the  boards. 

Col.  Conger  then  called  to  Booth  to  give  up 
his  arms  and  he  refused. 

He  then  directed  Lieut.  Baker  to  take  young 
Garrett,  Booth's  friend,  and  go  in  for  the 
weapons.  They  entered  and  Booth  accused 
Garrett  of  betrayal,  and  drove  them  out. 
After  a  parley,  Harold  offered  to  surrender. 
Booth  told  him  he  was  a  coward  and  to  go, 
calling  out  that  Harold  had  committed  no 
crime. 

Lieut.  Doherty  ordered  Harold  to  put  out 
his  hands,  which  he  tied  together,  then  tied 
him  to  a  tree. 

Corbett  then  proposed  to  Col.  Conger  to  go 
in  and  bring  Booth  out,  and  Conger  refused. 

Conger  again  demanded  Booth  to  surrender. 
He  answered — "No,  I  prefer  to  come  out  and 
fight." 

Conger  then  told  him  he  would  burn  him 

34 


out,  and  directed  Garrett  to  pile  pine  boughs 
about  the  barn,  which  he  did  until  Booth 
called  out  — "If  you  put  any  more  brush 
against  the  barn  I  will  put  a  ball  through  you," 
and  Garrett  quit. 

Corbett  finding  that  Conger  meant  to  fire 
the  barn,  asked  Lieut.  Doherty  to  let  him  go 
in  for  Booth,  but  he  declined.  Conger  again 
told  Booth  to  "Surrender  or  I  will  set  the  fire." 
Conger  immediately  set  the  fire  and  Booth 
called  out  —"Captain,  make  quick  work  of 
it  and  shoot  me  through  the  heart."  Lieut. 
Baker  replied,  "We  don't  want  to  shoot  you." 

Booth  answered,  "Well,  my  brave  boys,  you 
can  prepare  a  stretcher  for  me." 

Corbett  being  unwilling  that  Booth  should 
be  burned  to  death,  again  asked  Doherty  for 
permission  to  bring  Booth  out,  and  was  re- 
fused. 

The  heat  caused  Booth  to  change  his  posi- 
tion, which  he  did,  carbine  in  hand,  to  a  spot 
where  he  had  an  unobstructed  view  of  both 
Doherty  and  Corbett.  Two  of  Corbett's  com- 
rades told  him  Booth  would  shoot  him.  He 
kept  his  eye  steadily  on  Booth,  who  raised  his 
pistol  to  shoot,  when  Corbett,  feeling  sure  that 
his  commander  or  himself  would  be  shot,  fired 
and  Booth  fell. 

Conger,  Baker  and  Doherty  rushed  in  and 
brought  Booth  out.     To  Col.  Conger  he  said, 

35 


"Tell  my  mother  I  die  for  my  country"  and 
soon  expired. 

Lieut.  Doherty  sewed  the  body  up  in  a  blan- 
ket, sent  out  and  impressed  a  negro  having  an 
old  shack  of  a  horse  and  wagon,  put  the  body 
into  the  wagon  and  went  to  Belle  Plain,  where 
he  was  relieved  of  responsibility. 

All  of  the  above  statements  were  given  to 
me  by  Corbett,  and  are  fully  corroborated  by  the 
official  record  of  the  testimony  of  Col.  Conger, 
Lieuts.  Baker  and  Doherty  and  Sergeant  Cor- 
bett, before  the  Military  Commission  on  May 
17,  1865. 

Corbett  was  charged  by  Conger  with  breach 
of  miHtary  discipline  "in  firing  without  Do- 
herty's  order,  and  in  defiance  of  Gen.  Baker's 
order,"  and  was  returned  to  the  Washington 
camp  to  await  court-martial. 

Baker's  United  States  Secret  Service  — 
p.  537  contains  the  report  of  Col.  Conger  and 
Lieut.  Baker  to  Secretary  Stanton.  It  says: 
"Boston  Corbett  *  *  without  order,  pretext  or 
excuse  shot  Booth,"  and  "Lieut.  Baker  said 
to  Col.  Conger  the  man  who  fired  it  should  go 
back  to  Washington  under  arrest." 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  Corbett  was  the  only 
one  not  afraid.  He  realized  that  Booth  would 
be  "roasted  alive,"  and  his  course  was  the 
more  merciful  in  fact.  He  felt  that  he  had 
done  the  right  act,  and  was  greatly  irritated  by 

36 


being  confined  to  the  camp,  with  none  to  in- 
tercede for  him.  I  first  met  him  at  the 
Christian  Commission  rooms,  and  later  he  had 
been  to  our  house  to  dinner.  He  sent  for  me, 
and  after  a  talk  with  his  superiors,  I  reported 
the  interview  to  Secretary  Stanton,  a  man  of 
few  words  and  prompt  action.  He  ordered 
the  Lieutenant  and  Sergeant  to  be  produced 
before  him  as  soon  as  possible. 

Soon  there  were  assembled  in  his  office,  the 
Secretary,  Assistant-Secretary  Dana,  the  Ad- 
jutant-General, Lieut.  Doherty,  Sergeant  Cor- 
bett,  a  Washington  reporter,  and  myself. 

The  questions  and  answers  were  direct  and 
short.  Lieut.  Doherty  stated  the  facts — said  that 
Corbett  shot  Booth  without  orders,  that  he 
was  a  brave  and  true  soldier,  sometimes 
impulsive. 

Corbett's  version  differed  only  in  the  addi- 
tional information  of  his  offers  to  go  in  for 
Booth.  He  insisted  that  he  had  done  right, 
as  Booth  would  have  shot  Doherty  or  himself. 

Lieut.  Doherty  admitted  that  the  Sergeant 
made  the  offers  as  stated  by  him. 

After  a  conference  with  Assistant-Secretary 
Dana,  Mr.  Stanton  complimented  Lieut.  Do- 
herty—approved  of  his  holding  Corbett  for  the 
action  of  his  superiors  and  said,  "The  rebel  is 
dead — the  patriot  lives— he  has  saved  us  con- 

37 


tinued    excitement,  delay  and  expense  —  the 
patriot  is  released." 

Edwin  M.  Stanton  was  a  great  lawyer. 
Quick  to  discern  dissembling,  he  believed 
Corbett  shot  Booth,  and  that  he  was  brave  and 
true. 

Corbett  went  home  to  dine  with  me.  A  great 
crowd  gathered  and  clamored  for  him.  Out 
of  respect  for  Secretary  Stanton,  he  promised 
he  would  not  make  a  speech.  I  then  took  him 
up  to  the  porch,  and  when  the  people  had 
shouted  until  tired,  he  said,  "Fellows,  I 
am  glad  to  see  you.  Johnson  won't  let  me 
make  a  speech.   Good  bye." 

After  dinner  we  went  to  Brady's  for  his  pho- 
to to  be  taken,  the  one  which  follows  this 
chapter.  On  the  back  it  is  endorsed  "To 
Mr.  B.  B.  Johnson  with  kindest  regards. 
Boston  Corbett." 


38 


linsioN  I oHiiKi'i',  WHO  siior  noDiH,  Ai'lill,  2(1,  180.') 


CHAPTER  III 

LIFE    OF    CORBETT 

What  is  the  truth  about  Corbett's  strange 
career?  Let  us  view  his  youth— emigration  to 
America — his  trade— bitter  experiences  in  New- 
York  —  life  in  Boston  —  mihtary  service  with 
four  enlistments  —  starvation  at  Andersonville 
"Bull  Pen" — lay  preaching — career  in  Kansas 
— adjournment,  revolver  in  hand,  of  the  Kansas 
Legislature  —  commitment  to  the  Insane  Asy- 
lum and  escape  into  Mexico. 

Much  has  been  written  about  him  by  doubt- 
ers of  historical  truth,  who  never  knew  the 
man.  In  September,  1913,  the  Boston  He- 
rald contained  sketches  of  him,  by  an  anony- 
mous writer,  which  I  attempted  to  answer, 
but  evidently  the  editor  thought  I  did  not. 
After  publishing  a  skeleton  of  my  article  he 
added  the  following  foot  note — 

"Ed.  Mr.  Johnson  probably  knows  that  Mr. 
David  Miller  DeWitt,  a  scholarly  historian 
maintains  that  Boston  Corbett  did  not  shoot 
Booth  at  all,  but  merely  pretended  to  do  so, 
and  that  Booth  killed  himself." 

41 


I  was  not  aware  that  any  one  believed  such 
a  claim. 

If  there  is  any  fact,  connected  with  Presi- 
dent Lincoln's  assassination  and  with  the  cap- 
ture and  death,  more  absolutely  established 
than  that  Corbett  never  "pretended"  and  that 
he  did  shoot  Booth,  the  records  fail  to  show  it. 
It  might  as  truthfully  be  said  that  Booth  did 
not  shoot  Lincoln.  The  publication  of  such  a 
statement  as  the  Herald  contained,  and  others 
in  the  Transcript  and  Globe,  are  apt  to  mis- 
lead. I  propose  to  review  from  personal 
knowledge,  official  records  and  witnesses  of 
1865  the  facts,  which  are: 

The  arrest  of  Corbett  on  the  spot  by  his 
commanding  officer  as  shown  in  Chapter  II. 

The  action  of  Secretary  Stanton. 

The  payment  of  the  reward,  under  direction 
of  a  Committee  of  Congress. 

The  testimony  of  Col.  Conger,  Lieut.  Do- 
herty  and  Corbett,  before  the  celebrated 
Commission  composed  of  the  following — 

Major  Generals,  David  Hunter,  Lewis 
Wallace,  A.  V.  Kautz  —  Brig.  Generals, 
A.  P.  Howe,  R.  S.  Foster,  T.  M.  Harris, 
J.  A.  Eken  and  Col.  C.  H.  Tompkins. 

Brig.  General  J.  Holt  was  Judge  Advocate 
General,  assisted  by  Hon.  John  A.  Bingham 
and  Col.  H.  L.  Burnett,  two  eminent  attorneys. 

The  Commission  had  before  it  all  the  evi- 

42 


dence  the  United  States  could  obtain.  The 
Commission  was  fully  satisfied  that  Booth 
died  as  the  result  of  Corbett's  shot. 

Col.  Conger  had  no  love  for  Corbett,  who 
suggested  that  the  act  of  firing  the  barn  was 
too  cruel,  but  he  had  to  admit  that  Corbett 
fired  the  fatal  shot. — Baker's  United  States 
Secret  Service,  page  537. 

The  day  of  the  death  of  Booth,  before  the 
details  were  fully  known,  Secretary  Stanton 
telegraphed  to  Gen.  John  A.  Dix — "Booth  was 
shot  while  attempting  to  escape." 

John  G.  Nicolay  and  John  Hay  had  access 
to  all  lines  of  evidence  when  they  issued  their 
comprehensive  "Life  of  Lincoln."  In  Vol.  X, 
Page  312,  they  record,  "Booth  was  shot  by 
Boston  Corbett,  a  sergeant  of  Cavalry."  Hon. 
Henry  J.  Raymond,  a  member  of  Congress, 
an  intimate  friend  of  the  President,  also  wrote 
a  "Life  of  Lincoln."  On  page  713  he  says, 
"Booth  was  shot  by  Sergeant  Corbett." 

Lieut.  Doherty,  always,  before  and  after  his 
discharge  from  the  army,  stated  that  Booth  was 
shot  by  Corbett. 

All  the  surgeons  who  examined  Booth's 
body  declared  the  shot  could  not  have  been 
self-inflicted. 

Gen.  Baker  was  bitter  against  Corbett  to  the 
last.  In  1867  he  published  his  "History  of  the 
Secret  Service."  On  page  502  he  describes  the 

43 


setting  of  the  fire  to  the  barn  in  which  Booth 
was,  and  adds  "And  so  as  he  (Booth)  dashed 
intent  to  expire  not  unaccompanied,  a  dis- 
obedient sergeant,  at  an  eyehole,  drew  upon 
him  the  fatal  bead  ....  and  John  Wilkes 
Booth  fell  headlong  to  the  floor,  lying  there 
in  a  heap,  a  little  life  remaining." 

The  proof  is  too  strong  to  be  successfully  at- 
tacked by  any  "scholarly  historian." 

BOSTON  CORBETT'S  LIFE 

Whenever  the  story  of  the  assassination  of 
the  patriot  Commander-in-Chief  is  told,  natu- 
rally, alongside  stands  out  the  name  of  the 
patriot  Sergeant,  who  in  four  enlistments  of- 
fered his  life  for  his  adopted  country  and  in 
a  special  manner  to  risk  it  before  the  assassin's 
bullets. 

Born  in  London,  England,  in  1832,  named 
Thomas  P.,  which  name  he  retained  until  he 
was  baptized  in  Boston.  Then  he  declared  that 
Christ,  when  he  called  his  disciples,  gave 
them  new  names,  and  that  his  name  should 
henceforth  be  Boston  Corbett. 

In  1839,  he  came  with  his  parents  to  New 
York,  and  presumably  to  Troy,  N.  Y.  He 
struggled  in  poverty  for  an  education,  became 
a  fair  scholar  and  a  fluent  speaker. 

At  Troy,  he  learned  the  hatters  trade  and 

44 


became  very  proficient,  working  there  several 
years,  thence  went  to  New  York  City.  He 
married  and  lost  his  wife  and  infant  child  at 
birth.  He  was  unable  to  meet  the  expenses 
he  had  incurred.  He  became  despondent  and 
a  victim  of  the  cup  which  destroys  body  and 
soul  unless  speedy  rescue  comes.  While  un- 
der the  influence  of  liquor  he  strayed  into  a 
Salvation  Army  meeting,  where  he  was  detain- 
ed until  sober.  They  exacted  a  promise  that 
he  would  come  the  next  evening. 

He  was  a  man  of  sterling  truth — keeping  his 
promises,  even  when  it  caused  him  deprivation. 
He  followed  the  Army  meetings  until  his  moral 
fibre  developed  into  enthusiastic  advocacy  of 
''Come  to  Christ,"  his  favorite  plea.  At  the 
Fulton  Street  meetings  he  became  known  as 
the  "Glory  to  God"  man,  and  his  amens  at 
times  were  too  vociferous.  His  conduct  sub- 
sequently at  the  Bromfield  Street  Church, 
Boston,  bears  the  same  reputation. 

From  his  photo  one  would  hardly  suspect 
that  he  was  the  subject  of  intense  emotion 
whenever  his  interest  was  aroused.  In  height, 
he  was  about  five  feet  five,  stocky  build,  brown 
eyes,  fair  face,  mild  countenance,  parted  his 
hair  in  the  middle,  and  had  a  clear  ringing 
voice.  In  1857,  he  commenced  to  work 
at  the  shop  of  Samuel  Mason,  Jr.,  a  manufac- 
turing hatter  at  the    corner  of  Dock   Square 

45 


and  Washington  Street,  Boston.  Frequently 
he  visited  his  employer's  home.  The  stories 
of  him  told  by  Mr.  Mason  and  his  nen'ous  ag- 
gressiveness did  not  please  Mr.  Mason's  only 
daughter,  who  recalls  many  incidents  of  his 
eccentricities  and  religious  ebullitions. 

She  pronounces  the  photograph,  here  re-pro- 
duced, an  excellent  picture,  very  natural,  ex- 
cepting his  hair,  which  he  wore  very  long 
''because  all  the  pictures  of  Christ  represented 
him  wearing  long  locks."  This  he  could  not 
do  in  the  army.  In  the  Mason  shop  the  men 
worked  piece-work,  each  depending  upon  the 
promptness  of  the  next  man  in  passing  along 
his  part.  Some  of  the  men  were  at  times  pro- 
fane. At  such  events  Corbett  would  stop, 
kneeling,  offer  prayer  for  the  sinners,  and 
sometimes  adding  a  song  —  all  the  men  would 
be  obliged  to  hold  up  work. 

Being  an  expert  workman  and  using  great 
self-denial  he  was  able  to  discharge  all  his  New 
York  debts.  This  being  accomplished  he 
spent  his  money  for  books  and  tracts,  which 
he  distributed  at  North  Square  and  other 
North  and  West  End  meetings. 

At  one  of  his  North  Square  meetings  he  was 
accosted  by  two  young  women  who  sought 
unsuccessfully  to  inveigle  him  from  the  path 
of  virtue.  Desiring  to  have  no  inclinations  in 
that  direction  i  as  he  said  "to  be  holy"),  he  pro- 

46 


ceeded  to  self-castration,  for  which  he  was 
treated  in  the  Massachusetts  General  Hospital, 
from  July  16  to  August  18,  1858. 

MILITARY  SERVICE 

He  appears  to  have  been  an  early  patriot. 
The  first  notice  of  the  impending  need  of  sol- 
diers was  a  telegram  received  by  the  Gover- 
nor  from    Senator   Wilson,    April    15,    1861. 

Governor  Andrew  said,  ''The  occasion  de- 
mands action,  and  it  shall  not  be  delaved  bv 
speech.'' 

This  seems  to  have  been  Corbett's  idea.  He 
left  immediately  for  New  York,  enlisted  there 
as  a  Private  in  Co.  I.  12th  New  York  Militia. 
April  19,  1861,  for  three  months.  He  enlisted 
again  in  the  same  regiment  Co.  K,  June  2, 
1862,  and  was  mustered  out  October  8,  1862. 

The  12th  New  York  Militia  surrendered  at 
Harpers  Fern.-,  W.  Va.,  in  September  1S62. 
It  was  mustered  out  at  New  York  October  12, 
1862,  and  declared  exchanged  Januan.*  11, 1863. 
Corbett  again  enlisted  June  19,  1863,  as  Cor- 
poral in  the  same  organization  and  was  mus- 
tered out  July  20th,  1863.  August  4th,  1863, 
he  enlisted  as  Sergeant  in  Co.  L,  16th  New 
York  Cavalr}'  and  was  mustered  out  at  Wash- 
ington with  the  regiment  August  17th,  1865. 

Before  the  12th  was  mustered  out,  its  Colonel 
being  angered  by  the  careless  obedience  of  a 


few  of  the  men,  cursed  them  in  public.  Cor- 
bett  stepped  from  the  ranks  and  calmly  protest- 
ed such  abuse,  with  the  result  that  he  landed  in 
the  guard  house,  from  which  he  emerged 
smiling,  saying  he  had  had  a  "good  time  with 
his  God  and  his  Bible." 

It  is  told  that  ''he  was  ver}^  insistent  of  his 
rights — in  the  New  York  12th  he  was  being  sent 
out  to  do  some  duty  which  would  extend  be- 
yond the  hour  of  the  expiration  of  his  enlist- 
ment—  that  he  called  the  attention  of  his  Cap- 
tain and  notified  him  he  should  quit  the  duty 
when  his  enlistment  expired  ;  that  he  did  so 
—  was  court-martialed,  ordered  to  be  shot  but 
was  reprieved  and  drummed  out  of  camp." 
This  was  during  his  first  enlistment.  The  fact 
that  immediately  after  his  first  term  he  was  re- 
enlisted  in  the  same  regiment  and  later  re-en- 
listed again  with  a  promotion  and  received 
three  honorable  discharges  shows  that  the 
court  martial  story  is  a  fiction. 

Leupp  says  he  wore  his  hair  while  in  the 
army  "hanging  long  against  the  collars  of  his 
uniform."  This  was  not  allowed  and  his  pho- 
tograph shows  it  was  not  so. 

Leupp  says  that  "notoriety  and  threatening 
letters  unnerv^ed  him."  A  man  that  had  the 
nerve  he  showed  in  battle,  who  three  times 
sought  to  face  Booth's  carbine,  would  not  be 
unner^'ed  by  publicity  or  scribblers. 

48 


He  also  says,  "he  left  the  army  because  he 
felt  that  the  Booth  award  was  not  justly 
awarded,"  This  is  another  fiction.  The  first 
announcement  of  the  award  gave  Corbett  and 
twenty-five  others  $26,000— it  gave  Gen.  Baker 
and  Col.  Conger  each  $17,500,  Lieut.  Baker 
$5000,  Lieut.  Doherty,  $2500.  To  five  others 
who  furnished  information,  a  total  of  $6500. 
Gen.  Baker  claimed  that  none  of  the 
five  others  were  entitled  to  any  portion. 
Several  of  us  volunteered  to  seek  a  rejection  of 
that  award— we  succeeded,  Baker  and  Conger 
suffered  a  cut  down — Corbett's  final  award  was 
over  $2500  and  he  was  satisfied. 

He  left  the  army  because  the  war  was  oz-er,  and  his 
regiment  was  discharged. 

"CORBETT^S  CAPTURE  AND  THE  BULL  PEN" 

His  account  of  his  capture  by  Mosby's 
troops  at  Culpepper,  Va.  will  be  of  more  per- 
sonal interest  by  his  own  account,  and  I  give 
a  copy  of  a  letter  written  by  Corbett  May  13, 
1865. 

"I  enlisted  first  in  the  12th  New  York  State 
Militia  for  three  months,  and  after\vards  ser\^ed 
two  more  short  terms  in  the  same  regiment, 
and  when  that  was  over,  I  enlisted  for  three 
years  in  the  Cavalry  ser\ace  of  which  I  have 
now  served  two  years.      I  cannot  now  tell  you 

49 


in  detail  all  that  I  have  passed  through.  But 
I  have  fought  the  rebels  more  than  once.  The 
last  and  hardest  fight  I  had  previous  to  shoot- 
ing Booth,  was  on  the  24th  of  June  last,  when 
I  faced  and  fought  against  a  whole  column  of 
them,  all  alone,  none  but  God  being  with  me, 
to  help  me,  my  being  in  a  large  field  and  they 
being  in  the  road  with  a  high  board  fence  be- 
tween us,  enabled  me  to  hold  out  against  them 
as  long  as  I  did. 

But  after  driving  back  some  that  came  out 
from  their  column  to  take  me,  they  finally 
had  the  fence  torn  down,  and  then  closed 
around  me,  and  when  my  pistol  gave  out  — 
giving  me  no  more  fire  —  I  was  captured  by 
them  and  sent  to  Andersonville,  Ga. 

There  God  was  good  to  me,  sparing  my  life 
while  only  another  and  myself  lived  to  return 
out  of  fourteen  men  of  my  own  Company. 
But  bless  the  Lord,  a  score  of  souls  were  con- 
verted, right  on  the  spot  where  I  lay  for  three 
months  without  any  shelter.  Many  others 
were,  for  meetings  were  held  in  different  parts 
of  the  Bull  Pen. 

I  was  exchanged  at  Savannah  on  the  19th  of 
November,  making  my  imprisonment  five 
months. 

After  being  in  the  hospital  at  Annapolis 
a  while,  I  had  a  furlough  for  thirty  days  and 
then  returned  to  duty  with  my  regiment.     I 

50 


have  not  received  any  part  of  the  reward,  as 
the  trial  is  occupying  all  the  attention  of  the 
authorities  who  have  the  matter  in  hand. 

Yours  in  Christ, 

Boston  Corbett.'' 

The  capture  was  at  Culpepper,  and  it  is  said 
that  Mosby,  struck  by  his  bravery,  would  not 
allow  his  men  to  shoot  Corbett. 

After  his  muster  out,  Corbett  returned  to 
Mr.  Mason's  employ,  and  renewed  his  activi- 
ties at  the  Bromfield  Street  Church. 

About  this  time  a  new  style  of  hats  came  in- 
to favor,  which  were  manufactured  at  Danbury, 
Conn.  This  made  the  work  in  Boston  run  light 
and  Corbett  went  to  Danbur}^,  obtained  em- 
ployment and  "preached  in  the  country  round 
about." 

The  next  we  know  of  him  was  at  Camden, 
N.  J.,  where  he  was  well  known  as  an  active 
"Methodist  lay  preacher." 

In  1878,  he  removed  to  Kansas  and  took  up 
a  homestead  at  Concordia,  Cloud  County, 
built  a  "dugout"  and  lived  in  it  several  years, 
spending  his  time  "as  a  preacher,  in  great  de- 
mand at  revival  meetings."  In  September 
last,  a  writer  to  the  Boston  Herald  claimed  that 
he  "became  a  patent  medicine  pedler  and  was 
residing    at   Enid,  Oklahoma."     Reliable    in- 

51 


formation    from    the    Secretary    of    State    at 
Topeka,  Kansas,  is  as  follows: — 

"TOPEKA,  Kansas,  September  29,  1913. 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  letter  of  September 
26,  asking  for  information  concerning  Boston 
Corbett,  the  slayer  of  John  Wilkes  Booth.  In 
reply  I  beg  to  advise,  that  a  sketch  of  the  life 
of  Boston  Corbett  in  the  Historical  Society  of 
this  State,  prepared  by  Judge  Huron,  present 
police  judge  of  this  city,  shows  that  Mr.  Cor- 
bett was  born  in  England  in  1832. 

He  was  chosen  assistant  doorkeeper  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  Kansas  Legis- 
lature for  the  session  of  1887.  On  February 
15,  of  that  year,  laboring  under  the  impression 
that  he  was  being  discriminated  against  by 
other  officers  of  the  House,  Mr.  Corbett  drew 
a  revolver  and  running  the  officers  from  the 
building  created  such  a  commotion  that  it 
became  necessary  to  adjourn  the  Legislature. 
He  was  finally  seized  by  the  police  officers, 
overpowered  and  was  taken  before  the  probate 
judge,  where  he  was  adjudged  insane  on  the 
following  day.  He  escaped  from  the  Topeka 
Asylum  for  the  Insane,  May  26,  1888.  About 
a  week  later  he  showed  up  in  Neodesha,  Kan- 
sas, which  is  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
state.  He  was  riding  the  same  horse  on  which 
he    made  his  escape  from  the  asylum.     This 

52 


horse  had  been  ridden  up  to  the  asylum 
grounds  by  a  boy  and  left  tied  to  a  post,  while 
the  boy  was  visiting  about  the  grounds.  In 
company  with  a  number  of  other  inmates  Mr. 
Corbett  passed  near  the  horse,  and  seeing  him, 
sprang  from  the  ranks,  mounted  the  horse  and 
rode  away.  In  Neodesha  he  met  a  man  who 
served  with  him  as  a  prisoner  in  Andersonville 
prison.  He  told  his  old  comrade  that  he  had 
been  so  shamefully  treated  that  he  was  going 
to  leave  the  country  and  go  to  Mexico. 

Judge  Huron  who  was  appointed  a  guardian 
for  him  by  the  probate  court,  advises  me  that 
this  is  the  last  information  he  has  ever  had  of 
Mr.  Corbett.  A  few  years  after  bidding  fare- 
well to  the  old  comrade  in  Neodesha,  a  man 
claiming  to  be  Boston  Corbett  made  applica- 
tion for  a  pension  under  that  name.  This 
man  was  a  patent  medicine  pedler. 

Judge  Huron  investigated  the  matter  and 
learned  that  while  Corbett  was  five  feet  and 
four  inches  tall  this  medicine  vender  was  six 
feet  tall.  At  that  time  Corbett  was  a  man  past 
seventy  years  of  age,  and  the  man  applying  for 
a  pension  was  under  fifty  years  of  age.  Judge 
Huron  succeeded  in  sending  the  man  to  the 
penitentiary  at  Atlanta,  Ga.  for  three  years.  I 
think  it  safe  to  say  that  no  one  in  Kansas 
knows   the   whereabouts  of    Boston    Corbett. 

53 


Judge  Huron  has  done  everything  in  his 
power  to  locate  his  ward,  but  as  stated  above, 
has  learned  nothing  from  him  since  he  bade 
farewell  to  his  old  comrade  in  Neodesha. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Charles  H.  Sessions, 

Secretary  of  State." 


A  later  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  the 
Historical  Society  adds  the  fact  that  the  "old 
comrade"  was  Richard  Thatcher,  who  in  1888 
was  Superintendent  of  Schools  at  Neodesha. 

It  is  evident  that  in  1887  Corbett  was  living 
an  upright  and  strenuous  life  in  Kansas. 

He  became  insane  twenty-three  years  after 
his  military  service. 

In  September,  1905,  I  saw  in  the  New  York 
Sun  a  notice  that  a  man  claiming  to  be  Boston 
Corbett  had  been  arrested  at  Dallas,  Texas.  I 
immediately  communicated  with  the  United 
States  Attorney,  and  received  from  him  the  fol- 
lowing under  date  of  November  16,  1905: 

"The  man  whom  I  prosecuted  was  not  the 
genuine  Boston  Corbett,  who  shot  Booth.  It 
was  an  extremely  interesting  case.  The  de- 
fendant was  uneducated,  but  very  bright,  and 
he  from  some  source,  had  secured  much  data, 
which    enabled    him    to    impersonate    Boston 

54 


Corbett  to  a  remarkable   degree.     He  is  now 
in  the  United  States  Penitentiary  at  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Yours,  etc. 

WM.  H.  ATWILL, 

U.  S.  Attorney." 

November  20,  1913,  the  Department  of 
Justice  at  Washington  informed  me  by  letter, 
that  "the  imposter  used  the  names  of  James 
and  John  Corbett,  was  committed  to  prison 
October  25,  1905,  to  serve  three  years  for  per- 
jury. Was  transferred  to  the  government 
hospital  for  insane  at  Washington,  D.  C,  Oct. 
26,  1906,  and  discharged  as  cured  December 
24,  1908.    That  he  gave  his  age  as  fifty  years." 

It  will  be  noted  that  this  "very  bright"  man 
was  cured  coincident  with  the  expiration  of  his 
term  of  sentence. 

A  characteristic  of  Corbett  was  generosity. 
At  the  time  of  President  Lincoln's  funeral, 
five  hundred  special  cards  of  admission  were 
issued  and  were  in  great  demand  as  souvenirs. 
Corbett  had  one  which  he  could  not  person- 
ally use,  and  asked  me  to  name  some  one  to 
use  it.  I  suggested  that  he  give  it  to  Captain 
William  S.  McFarlin,  Co.  K,  18th  Mass.  V.  I., 
which  he  did.  I  am  told  that  he  kept 
and  prized  it  until  his  death  at  South  Carver, 
Mass.,  January  17,  1914. 

Thus  endeth  my  story  of  Boston  Corbett. 

55 


Chapter  IV. 

THE  CAPTURE   OF  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Booth  declared  in  his  final  message  "I  die 
for  my  country." 

There  can  be  no  question  but  that  he  be- 
lieved the  cause  of  the  Confederacy  was  the 
cause  of  his  country. 

He  was  an  undisguised  secessionist.  Evi- 
dence presented  before  the  military  commis- 
sion proved  that  Booth's  first  plan  was  the 
capture  or  kidnapping  of  President  Lincoln, 
and  his  delivery  to  the  Confederacy. 

He  had  good  reasons  for  believing  that  to  be 
the  desire  of  the  South.  When  it  became 
evident  he  could  not  do  that,  his  purpose  was 
suddenly  changed  to  assassination. 

Was  his  belief  warranted?  In  December, 
1864,  the  Selma  Alabama  Despatch,  a  journal 
of  wide  circulation,  printed  an  advertisement 
from  a  well  known  citizen,  who  asked  for  con- 
tributions to  a  fund  of  One  Hundred  Thousand 
Dollars,  and  offered  to  give  the  first  thousand 
dollars,  "to  be  paid  to  the  man  or  men  who 
before  March  1st,  1865,  should  capture  or  kill 

56 


JEKFEKSOX    KAVIS,   <;ArTllCEI>   A  r    I  1!  \V  I  NS  VI  LLK.    tiA..    MAY    10,    18()5. 


Abraham  Lincoln,  Andrew  Johnson  and  Will- 
iam H.  Seward." 

An  Alabama  paper  reported  Jefferson  Davis 
as  approving  the  offer.  His  two  speeches  in 
April,  1865,  in  North  Carolina,  indicate  that 
he  did.  In  forming  your  judgment  on  this 
point,  note  the  three  names  specified  in  the 
offer  of  reward — then  read  the  evidence  show- 
ing that  Booth  took  charge  of  Lincoln ;  as- 
signed Payne  to  kill  Seward,  and  Atzeroth  to 
kill  Johnson,  but  who  lost  courage. 

On  April  19th,  Jefferson  Davis  was  speaking 
at  Charlotte,  N.  C,  when  a  telegram  was 
handed  to  him.  He  read  it,  then  read  it  aloud 
to  his  audience  : 

"Greensboro,  April  19,  1865.  To  His 
Excellency  President  Davis.  President  Lincoln 
was  assassinated  in  the  theatre  in  Washington 
on  the  night  of  the  11th  inst.  Seward's  house 
was  entered  on  the  same  night  and  he  was 
repeatedly  stabbed  and  is  probably  mortally 
wounded. 

John  C.  Breckenridge." 

Davis  then  to  his  audience  said,  "If  it  were 
to  be  done  it  were  better  it  were  well  done."  \ 

The  next  day  he  made  another  speech,  in 
which  he  said:  "If  the  same  had  been  done 
to  Andy  Johnson,  the  beast,  and  to  Secretary 
Stanton,  the  job  would  have  been  complete." 

59 


In  these  facts  we  see  what  affected  Booth's 
mind. 

In  May,  1865,  Davis  with  several  of  his 
cabinet,  about  four  thousand  troops,  and  sup- 
posed to  have  all  the  official  records  and  about 
six  million  dollars  in  specie,  was  fleeing  through 
the  South.  The  United  States  sent  out  several 
detachments  of  cavalry  under  the  Department 
Commanders,  to  find  and  follow  his  trail,  and 
to  prevent  his  reaching  a  seaport  or  the 
Mississippi  River.  Many  false  reports  were 
made  about  his  movements,  which  had  to  be 
followed  out,  with  the  result  of  scattering  our 
raiders. 

As  fast  as  his  troops  received  news  of  Lee's 
surrender,  they  mostly  surrendered  or  deserted. 

May  5th,  some  reliable  information  came  to 
officers  at  Augusta,  Ga.,  which  was  transmitted 
to  General  James  H.  Wilson  at  Macon,  Ga., 
commanding  the  "Alabama  and  Georgia  raid." 
When  Davis  reached  Washington,  Ga.,  May 
4th,  he  had  but  150  armed  men,  and  had  dis- 
posed of  most  of  the  specie.  When  he  left 
there  May  5th,  he  had  but  six  men  armed. 

General  Wilson  in  a  telegram  to  Secretary 
Stanton,  furnished  May  13th,  and  in  another 
May  14th,  a  basis  for  the  ridiculous  stories  and 
caricatures  of  Davis  flight,  published  in  all  the 
northern  papers  —  which  the  facts  officially  re- 
ported to  him  did  not  justify.     Secretary  Stan- 

60 


ton  believed  them  until  the  final  report  of  Col. 
Pritchard. 

Time  and  truth,  and  a  fair  interpretation  of 
all  the  official  information,  now  corroborated 
by  unofficial  witnesses,  show  that  Jefferson 
Davis  was  not  clothed  in  his  wife's  dress  or  any  other 
attire  of  women. 

All  of  the  despatches  and  official  reports 
concerning  the  capture  have  been  printed  in 
the  "United  States  Official  Record  of  the 
Union  and  Confederate  Armies." 

The  officer  in  command  of  the  capturing 
Cavalry  was  Lieut.  Col.  Benjamin  D.  Pritchard, 
4th  Michigan  Cavalry,  who  had  with  him  about 
130  men. 

He  was  the  only  one  authorized  to  make  re- 
port to  General  Wilson.  At  the  Davis  tent, 
when  he  surrendered,  was  Colonel  Pritchard, 
Lieutenant  Purrington,  Corporals  Crittenton 
and  Munger,  Privates  Bee,  Bullard  and  Ed- 
wards. All  the  remainder  of  the  men  were 
around  the  camp  with  orders  to  allow  no  one 
to  leave  their  tents,  sentinels  being  placed  at  each 
tent  and  wagon. 

Colonel  Pritchard's  despatches  and  final  re- 
port are  models  of  good  taste.  Two  despatches 
of  General  Wilson,  May  13th  and  14th,  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  are  spectacular  and  evidently 
inspired  by  false  information.  A  reward  had 
been   offered   for   the    capture  of  Davis,    but 

61 


knowledge  of  it  had  not  then  been  communi- 
cated to  Colonel  Pritchard.  Colonel  Pritchard 
sent  a  despatch  by  courier,  seventy-five  miles, 
to  General  Wilson,  as  soon  as  he  knew  whom 
he  had  captured.  General  Wilson  wired  it  at 
once  to  Secretary  Stanton,  as  follows: — 

"Macon,  Ga.,  xMay  12th,  1865. 

Hon.  E.  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War. 

I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  at  daylight  of 
the  10th  inst..  Colonel  Pritchard  commanding 
the  4th  Michigan  Cavalry  captured  JefTerson 
Davis  and  family,  Reagan,  P.  M.  General; 
Colonel  Harriman,  Private  Secretary;  Colonel 
Johnston,  Aide  de  Camp;  Colonel  Morris, 
Colonel  Lubbeck,  Lieutenant  Hathaway  and 
others.  Colonel  Pritchard  surprised  their  camp 
at  Irwinsville  in  Wilson  County,  75  miles  south- 
east of  this  place.  The  prisoners  will  be  here 
tomorrow  night  and  will  be  forwarded  under 
guard  without  delay.  I  will  send  particulars 
at  once. 

Jas.  H.  Wilson,  Bvt-Maj.  General." 

Colonel  Pritchard's  only  full  report  of  the 
details  was  made  to  Secretary  Stanton  at  Wash- 
ington, May  25,  1865,  pursuant  to  a  special 
order,  and  being  made  at  his  leisure,  and  to 
the  highest  authority,  must  be  presumed  to  be 
as  correct  as  he  could  make  it. 

62 


In  the  meantime  General  Wilson  interview- 
ed others  and  May  13th,  1865,  sent  a  despatch  to 
Secretary  Stanton  in  which  he  says — 

"ri?<f  captors  report  that  he  (Davis)  hastily  put 
on  one  of  Mrs.  Davis'  dresses  and  started  for 
the  woods,  closely  pursued  by  our  men,  who 
at  first  thought  him  a  woman,  but  seeing  his 
boots,  while  running  suspected  his  sex  at  once. 
The  race  was  a  short  one  and  the  rebel  Presi- 
dent was  soon  brought  to  bay.  He  brandished 
a  bowie  knife  of  elegant  pattern,  and  showed 
signs  of  battle,  but  yielded  promptly  to  the 
persuasion  of  Colt's  revolvers,  without  com- 
pelling our  men  to  fire." 

That  sounds  like  a  story  writing  correspon- 
dent of  a  New  York  paper.  May  14th,  General 
Wilson  sent  his  third  despatch  to  the  Secretary. 
In  it  he  said  — ''The  device  adopted  by  Davis 
was  even  more  ignoble  than  I  reported  at  first." 

At  no  time  does  he  tell  what  it  was.  The 
northern  papers  said  it  was  a  "crinoline." 

January  17,  1867,  from  his  Davenport,  Iowa, 
home.  General  Wilson  makes  a  supplemental 
report  which  he  asked  to  have  made  part  of  the 
record. 

He  says  "it  is  made  from  the  original  infor- 
mation in  my  possession"  and  adds,  "No  re- 
sistance was  offered  because  the  enemy  had 
posted  no  sentries  and  were  therefore  taken 
completely    by    surprise.      A     man     called 

63 


Colonel  Pritchard's  attention  to  three  persons 
in  female  attire  moving  from  a  tent  towards 
the  woods.  They  were  Miss  Howell,  Mrs.  Davis 
and  Jefferson  Davis." 

If  this  were  true,  it  would  prove  that  Colonel 
Pritchard's  sentries  at  the  Davis  tent  were  not 
obeying  orders. 

In  Colonel  Pritchard's  despatch  to  General 
Wilson  he  uses  the  term,  "and  familv." 

May  15,  Captain  J.  C.  Hathaway,  Company 
D,  ith  Michigan  Cavalry,  who  assisted  in  the 
Pritchard  raid,  made  a  report  at  Macon,  Ga., 
of  his  part,  in  very  definite  terms.  He  says 
"there  were  captured  with  Davis  his  four  little 
children."  Not  a  word  about  an  escape,  a 
bowie  knife,  or  a  woman's  dress. 

Can  anybody  believe  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Davis 
would  abandon  those  "four  little  children" 
and  flee  to  the  woods? 

When  together,  Bvt.  Brig.  General  Minty 
was  Colonel  Pritchard's  superior  officer,  and 
July  2,  1865,  Colonel  Pritchard  made  a  report 
to  him  without  any  allusion  to  the  alleged  at- 
tempt at  "escape,"  the  "disguise,"  the  "bowie 
knife"  or  "Colt's  revolvers." 

Colonel  Pritchard  on  May  15,  1865,  started 
via  Augusta  and  Savannah  for  Fortress  Mun- 
roe.  He  was  ordered  to  deliver  his  charges  to 
Major  General  Halleckand  Bvt.  Maj.  General 

64 


Miles  and  proceed  to  Washington  and  report 
to  Secretary  Stanton. 

We  must  let  him  tell  his  own  story  in  detail, 
in  order  to  get  the  facts,  by  which  it  will  ap- 
pear that  until  his  report  was  filed,  the  Wash- 
ington authorities  believed  General  Wilson's 
reports  of  Davis  attempting  to  escape  in  his 
wife's  crinoline  and  of  his  showing  fight. 

''We  reached  Irwinsville  about  one  o'clock, 
in  the  morning  of  May  10th.  Where  passing 
my  command  as  Confederates  and  inquiring  for 
our  train,  representing  that  we  were  a  rear 
guard  left  to  fight  the  Yankees  back,  I  learned 
about  a  train  which  had  encamped  the  night 
before,  one  and  a  half  miles  out  on  the  Abbe- 
ville road.  There  we  found  a  camp.  I  halted 
my  Company  and  sent  Lieutenant  Purington 
and  twenty-five  dismounted  men,  to  circuit  the 
camp.  That  being  done,  I  put  my  column  in 
motion  and  approached  within  four  or  five 
rods  of  the  camp  before  we  were  discovered. 
In  about  fifteen  minutes  we  heard  guns  from 
the  skirmish  bet%veen  our  and  the  1st  ^^  isconsin 
Cavalr}^  pickets.  We  made  a  dash  and  cap- 
tured the  entire  camp. 

The  surprise  was  so  complete  and  the  move- 
ment so  sudden  in  its  execution  that  few  of  the 
enemy  were  enabled  to  make  the  slightest  de- 
fense, or  even  arouse  from  their  slumbers  in 
time  to  grasp  their  weapons,  which  were  lying 

65 


by  their  sides.  I  placed  a  chain  of  mounted 
men  around  Davis'  camp,  and  sentries  at  each 
tent  and  wagon. 

Davis  came  out  and  said  to  me  'I  suppose 
you  consider  it  bravery  to  charge  a  train  of  de- 
fenceless women  and  children,  but  I  consider 
it  theft.    It  is  vandalism.' 

We  captured  JefiFerson  Davis,  J.  H.  Reagan, 
his  Post  Master  General;  Colonel  Morris, 
Colonel  Johnston,  Colonel  Lubbeck,  Captain 
Maurin,  Captain  Moody,  Lieutenant  Harriman, 
Private  Secretary;  Lieutenant  Hathaway,  J.  D. 
Howell,  midshipman  in  the  rebel  navy;  Miss 
Maggie  Howell,  sister  of  Mrs.  Davis;  two 
waiting  maids,  one  white,  one  colored,  and 
several  servants ;  five  wagons,  three  ambu- 
lances, fifteen  horses,  about  twenty-five  or 
thirty  mules.  The  wagons  were  mostly  loaded 
with  Commissory  stores  and  private  baggage. 
After  caring  for  our  wounded  in  the  skirmish 
etc.,  I  started  for  Macon  and  reached  there 
the  13th.  I  was  met  at  the  outskirts  of  the 
city  and  ordered  to  select  three  officers  and 
twenty  men  of  my  command  to  act  as  a  guard, 
and  depart  at  once  for  Washington,  via  Au- 
gusta and  Savannah.  Under  orders  of  General 
Wilson  I  turned  over  all  Privates  captured, 
excepting  two, —  I  received  Clement  C.  Clay 
and  wife.  I  reached  Augusta  the  14th  and 
there  received    Alexander   H.    Stephens    and 

66 


Major  General  Wheeler  and  staff.  I  arrived 
at  Savannah  May  16th,  having  marched  two 
hundred  miles  in  six  days. 

At  Savannah  we  embarked  on  the  Steamer 
Clyde  for  Fortress  Munroe  and  arrived  the  19th. 
We  remained  on  board  until  the  22nd.  Then 
I  turned  over  all  to  General  Halleck,  except 
Davis  and  Clay  and  families.  Later  I  delivered 
them  to  Bvt. -Major  General  Miles."  (Up  to 
now  he  has  made  no  mention  of  an  attempt  to 
escape,  ofabowieknifeoradisguise.)  He  adds,— 

"I  received  through  General  Miles  an  order 
from  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  Charles  A. 
Dana,  dated  May  23rd,  'to  be  sure  to  bring 
with  him  the  woman's  dress  in  which  Davis 
was  captured.'  I  went  to  the  Steamer  Clyde 
and  received  from  Mrs.  Davis  a  lady's  water- 
proof cloak  or  robe  and  which  Mrs.  Davis  said 
was  worn  by  Mr.  Davis  as  a  disguise  at  the 
time  of  the  capture  and  which  was  identified 
by  men  who  saw  it  on  him  at  the  time. 

On  the  following  morning  the  balance  of  the 
disguise,  a  shawl,  was  found  and  admitted  by 
Mrs.  Davis  to  be  the  one  worn  by  Mr.  Davis." 

Thus  Colonel  Pritchard  dispels  the  dress  and 
more  "ignoble"  features  of  General  Wilson's 
unnamed  "captors"  information. 

In  September  1865,  Captain  G.  W.  Lawton, 
4th  Michigan  Cavalry,  furnished  an  article  to  a 
New  York  paper  in  which  he  said  "the  dis- 

67 


guise  was  a  waterproof  and  a  shawl."  Lieu- 
tenant Dickenson  and  Corporal  Munger  said 
**Mr.  Davis  wore  a  waterproof  and  shawl." 

All  of  these  reports  and  statements,  except- 
ing General  Wilson's,  were  made  after  the 
caricatures  had  been  published  and  "known 
of  all  men." 

I  hereby  supplement  the  testimony  by  two 
witnesses  who  had  reason  to  know  the  facts. 

One  of  the  Privates  at  the  Davis  tent  with 
Colonel  Pritchard,  came  to  me  with  Boston 
Corbett.  He  had  read  the  stories  and  seen  the 
pictures.  Because  General  Wilson  had  made 
the  statements  he  had,  to  the  Secretary,  this 
Private  declined  to  permit  the  use  of  his  name, 
but  asserted  with  the  most  positive  declaration, 
that  stories  of  the  attempt  to  escape  were  un- 
true and  the  first  he  heard  of  such  claims  was 
when  at  the  Christian  Commission  rooms  in 
Washington  he  was  shown  them.  He  said 
Mr.  Davis  came  out  of  his  tent,  had  some 
*'sharp  words"  with  the  Colonel  and  returned 
to  prepare  for  the  journey,  and  that  the  senti- 
nels of  which  he  was  one,  did  not  lose  sight  of 
Mr.  Davis  a  moment  while  in  the  camp. 

With  Mr.  Davis  was  captured  James  H. 
Jones,  colored.  At  Montgomery  in  February, 
1861,  Davis  was  elected  Confederate  President, 
and  soon  after,  Jones  was  assigned  to  him  as 

68 


his  personal  servant,  and  was  with  him  until 
Mr.  Davis  was  imprisoned. 

During  Mr.  Cleveland's  administration, 
Jones  was  appointed  a  messenger  at  the  United 
States  Senate  Stationery  Office,  under  the  di- 
rection of  Charles  N.  Richards,  formerly  of 
Quincy,  Mass.,  and  remained  there  until  1912. 

He  was  a  large  man  with  a  decidedly  mili- 
tary air,  light  complexion,  very  intelligent,  po- 
lite and  modest. 

I  had  seen  him  several  years  without  know- 
ing his  history.  In  March,  1907,  my  friend 
Richards  told  me  about  his  history,  said  he 
was  most  faithful  and  truthful  and  introduced 
us.  I  drew  from  him  the  story  of  the  capture. 
He  denied  that  there  was  any  dressing  for,  or 
attempt  to  escape,  said  it  was  not  possible,  as 
the  sentries  were  with  them  all  the  time  until 
they  broke  camp.  He  was  positive  that  Mr. 
Davis  did  not  have  a  bowie  knife.  Said  "all 
there  was  to  the  'dress  yarn'  arose  from  the 
fact  that  it  was  early  in  a  damp  morning,  and 
Mr.  Davis  put  on  a  shawl,  which  he  custom- 
arily wore,  and  started  to  go  out  to  meet  the 
soldiers.  Mrs.  Davis,  very  much  agitated 
said,  'Pa,  don't  go,  those  Yankees  will  shoot 
you.'  He  replied,  'they  will  treat  me  as  a  pris- 
oner of  war,  you  need  not  fear,'  reached  and 
took  up  a  waterproof,  nearly  the  same  color 
as  his  and  threw  it  about  his  neck  and  shoulders. 

69 


He  then  stepped  outside  and  had  some  words 
with  the  officer.  I  saw  that  he  had  the  wrong 
waterproof , and  I  immediately  exchanged  them. 

It  was  early,  before  daylight.  We  were 
utterly  surprised.  Soon  we  were  told  we  were 
prisoners.  A  Union  officer  ordered  Mr. 
Davis  to   prepare    for   leaving   immediately." 

I  asked  Brown,  "What  about  the  attempt  to 
escape,  leaving  the  children?"  He  answered, 
"You  couldn't  have  hired  him  to  do  it,  if  you 
had  given  him  the  Confederacy."  He  added, 
"We  were  treated  civilly  as  they  could  on  the 
journey  North." 

He  wrote  his  card  for  me  as  follows— "Wash- 
ington, March  25,  1907,  Mr.  Johnson,  Sir  — I 
was  born  at  Raleigh,  N.  C.  in  1833,  March  27th, 
I  am  respectfully  yours,  James  H.  Jones, 
U.  S.  S.  S.  O." 

He  produced  a  buck  horn  handled  cane, 
with  a  silver  band,  upon  which  was  engraved, 
"Presented  to  James  H.  Jones  in  loving  re- 
membrance for  faithful  service.  Mrs.  Jeffer- 
son Davis."  It  was  understood  the  horn  was 
from  a  buck,  shot  by  Mr.  Davis. 

Senator  Williams  secured  the  passage  of 
an  act  by  which  Jones  is  in  the  south  enjoying 
a  life  vacation  and  drawing  his  salary  regularly. 

I  believe  this  story  to  be  fully  substantiated 
by  the  official  records  and  competent  evidence, 

70 


and  that  justice  demands  that  the  hasty  and  un- 
warranted stories  as  to  Davis'  capture,  told  in 
1865,  should  be  admitted  to  be  erroneous,  and 
that  due  credit  should  be  given  to  Sergeant 
Corbett. 

I  submit  this  plain  review  and  the  facts,  be- 
cause of  loving  respect  for  our  war  President, 
friendship  for  the  patriot  Sergeant,  and  in  de- 
ference to  historical  truth. 

Byron  Berkeley  Johnson 
Waltham,  Mass.,  June,  1914 


71 


gLOdi^LJ-jL-*^  1'^^ 


